CBHRS researchers, as part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) national effort, collaborated with healthcare professionals and healthcareorganizations to implement evidence-based practices found to reduce unhealthy alcohol use and alcohol-exposed pregnancies. Alcohol-exposed pregnancies […]
Alcohol-exposed pregnancies, which can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), is one of the most common preventable causes of lifelong intellectual and developmental disabilities in the U.S. Healthcare teams […]
The Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER) faculty, including Brett Watson, Bob Loeffler, and Mary Kopriva, showcased their expertise as panelists at the […]
On Thursday, February 25 from 12-1 pm, join us for a discussion on what UAA researchers have found on how contact tracing has impacted COVID-19 transmission, strategies for reaching out to vulnerable Alaskans, and plans to hear community voices on the impacts of COVID-19 in the Arctic. Read more about > Next COVID-19 research webinar: February 25, 2021
Faculty from UAA, including ISER’s Katie Cueva, have been working since the spring to describe the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual’s behavior, inform policy decisions, and predict case counts and contact tracing workforce needs. Read more about > As COVID-19 cases rise, data from UAA researchers helps inform Alaska health guidance
CBHRS associate professor Dr. Diane King (co-investigator) and research professional Alex Edwards (project manager) are collaborating with psychology professor Dr. Patrick Dulin (principal investigator) on a clinical trial to reduce drinking. Funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, study participants will test either a smart-phone app or a chatbot version of an evidence-based program called Step Away. Read more about > Using mobile technology to reduce unhealthy alcohol use
Gina Bodnar is joining ISER this summer as a First Alaskans Institute intern, and we are excited to welcome her! At ISER she’ll be working with Dr. Cueva to develop cancer education for youth in Northwest Arctic, and will be learning about the research process from IRB submission to data analysis. She is also curious to learn about ISER, and will be having informational interviews with staff and faculty during her internship. Read more about > First Alaskans Institute 2020 summer intern
ISER faculty are working to inform the Municipality of Anchorage's COVID-19 efforts through a partnership between ISER, the UAA Division of Population Health Sciences, and the UAA College of Arts and Sciences. The group is involved in three distinct projects. First, Dr. Cueva, Dr. DeFeo, and Dr. Berry contributed to a series of publications focusing on specific areas in which the pandemic has impacted Anchorage and its residents, with recommendations for monitoring further impacts and potential responses/interventions. Of the published papers, Dr. Cueva and Dr. DeFeo took the lead on Education; considering the pandemic’s effect on early childhood, K12, and postsecondary systems, they noted the impacts of school and facility closures on students and communities, and provided recommendations to limit negative outcomes and plan for the future. Dr. Berry authored a paper on the economic impact of the hunker down order. Read more about > Reporting impacts and recommendations for COVID-19 in Anchorage and Alaska
Economists, both nationally and in Alaska, are frequently asked to assess the economic costs of the steps taken to limit the spread of COVID-19. The economic impacts are huge; the US is experiencing rates of unemployment not seen since the 1930s in the Great Depression. But the benefits of saving lives by reducing deaths due to COVID-10 area also very large. In a recent a working paper, “The Impacts of the ‘Hunker Down’ order in Anchorage,” Assistant Professor Kevin Berry used the concept of the economic value of a statistical life to undertake an approximate comparison of the economic costs (in lost income) and economic benefits (in saved lives) of the Municipal response to the coronavirus outbreak. His work combines epidemiological modeling of how COVID-19 could have spread without the Hunker Down order with the value of a “statistical life”. The results suggest that the economic benefits of saving human lives to date has far exceeded the economic costs in lost income. Read more about > Impacts of ‘Hunker Down’ in Anchorage
The Institute of Social and Economic Research’s (ISER) Dr. Kevin Berry recently co-wrote an article with Dr. Katherine Lee (University of Idaho) published in The Hill. The piece, Why a go-it-alone approach to combatting the coronavirus won’t work, addresses the current coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) and why […]